I am very cynical about elected officials wherever in the world I find them, mainly because almost all elected officials remain first and foremost politicians. I could write of a NYC council member who when running for his office had his family members stalk and threaten a rival campaign's workers. I witnessed firsthand the self-described Christian soldiers of the religious right take over the Republican Party in Iowa in the 1980s with a conviction--a self-righteousness--and efficacy that still are not appreciated by most historians, and raise up literally theocratic candidates into public offices throughout the Hawkeye state (as the religious right did in other states then and since). I've been uncomfortably pulled between opposing Democratic candidates vying for higher office on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and been pressured by Democratic machine politicians. Gore Vidal's play The Best Man is timeless because of its keen message that "the best candidate" is a profoundly relative concept, and too often we as fickle voters conclude that the best option among candidates for an elected office was--is--simply the one who wins...only to quickly change our minds when it suits us.

Yet, the powers of the police and the state can never be allowed to run roughshod over the rights of elected officials and legislative institutions representing, however imperfectly (often criminally imperfectly--e.g., Sen. Ted Stevens), the will of the people in a democracy. (Yet...such officials cannot be considered above the law.) What is more, sometimes, even if often for self-serving reasons, elected officials occasionally serve as "whistle blowers" about abuse in government agencies or legislative bodies themselves. I was a Research Assistant to the Labour Party Spokesman for Trade & Industry, and I can assure you that MPs--especially those in the Opposition--do not have the size of staff, the power, or the prestige of Representatives in the US Congress. To see the police maneuver around and also out-maneuver the Speaker--with malice or not--in order to raid an MP's office is a sad thing.

It is now clear that the police have some very serious questions to answer about the way they behaved. So too the Speaker and his officials. So too ministers who were involved in launching the inquiry.